The Aqua Net Diaries by Jennifer Niven Read Free Book Online Page A

This was so he didn’t repeat an outfit in three weeks’ time.

    When we could, Hether and I would break into Joey’s room and steal his journal and change things here or there so that he would get confused and accidentally wear something twice in a row or repeat an outfit before he was supposed to. We would always tell him afterward, of course, just so we could see his reaction.
    Hether said now, “Jenna Lou Anne, that bitch is wearing your shirt.”
    I said, “Turn me around. Turn me around.” Because suddenly I couldn’t move and there were five thousand people coming—including Dean Waldemar, who I could just see heading toward me (gold hair dripping wet) surrounded by ten of his closest friends—and I didn’t want to see them or Patty or anyone.
    Patty said, “Jennifer McJunkin, oh my God.”
    I said, “Hi, Patty.”
    She said, “Look at this. You and me’re twins.”
    I said, “Yeah!” I stood there grinning stupidly, wanting to slink away to the bathroom or maybe just die instantly on the spot. Guys and girls were walking by staring at us and laughing. “Nice shirts!” they said. “Hey, is it Spirit Week?” someone yelled. “Is today Twin Day?” I saw Dean Waldemar straining to see what everyone was looking at. I was already thinking about what to do, trying to remember if I had anything to change in to. Could I get away with only wearing my vest or maybe my ugly gym uniform?
    Joey said, “We’d better go. We’ll be late!” And started dragging me off. My legs weren’t working anymore so I kind of bumped along behind him.
    The rest of the day, I darted from class to class, keeping one eye out for Patty, the other for anyone who might have seen us together. This was the worst thing to happen to mesince the time just before Christmas when Mike Shockney made me laugh so hard in Psychology that something flew out of my nose and landed on his book. (I pretended, of course, that nothing happened. Just picked up my pencil and started furiously taking notes, hoping to God he wouldn’t notice. He was very good-looking for a hood.)
    I went home that day and took off my shirt. Instead of throwing it onto the floor or my beanbag chair with my other clothes, I hung it neatly on a hanger and pushed it into the very back of my closet. I didn’t wear it again until I graduated high school and was safely out of Richmond. As far as I was concerned, that shirt belonged to Patty Boomershine. She wore it once a week for the next two and a half years.

On the way to Dayton from Richmond on the I-70
Cafeteria Rules
    Jennifer has had a great week at school. She is a great authority on all the Kindergarten rules, such as Keep Your Head in the School Bus and I Shouldn’t Have to Scream to Get Your Attention!
    â€”My mother in a letter to the family, September 11, 1973
    Technically, RHS was a closed campus, which meant we had to stay at school no matter what, even if we were dying, and never leave it until the final bell rang at 3:15. No one paid attention to this, of course, except the dutiful kids and the ones who were trying for the perfect attendance award. At lunch, it was easy enough to slip out through the art museum and walk down to Rax, on the corner of National Road West and Red Devil Boulevard, or tohop into your car and drive to Burger King or Wendy’s or McDonald’s.
    Hether Rielly and Joey Kraemer and I had the same lunch hour second semester sophomore year, which meant that we almost never ate at school and were always sneaking out. Hether usually drove because we loved her red Cougar. She drove faster than anyone in the world, even my own father who almost always got a ticket every time we left the house. Hether just slammed her foot on the gas pedal and didn’t let up till we got to wherever we were going.
    One particularly restless and dull day in April, in AP History class first